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State revisits interbasin transfers, worries environmentalists

ATLANTA – Georgia officials are trying a new approach to getting ample drinking water in the northern part of the state.

For the first time, the state will have a way to transfer water from reservoirs on one stream and move it to another that is depleted by drought. Environmental organizations that oppose the building of reservoirs object to this new plan.

Downstream communities like Athens, Augusta, Savannah and Brunswick have generally opposed such interbasin transfers when used to provide water for upstream drinking and industry. They may be no happier about transfers for boosting the flow of streams in other regions for the sake of endangered species and drought mitigation.

The state’s policy change just took effect this month, and opponents haven’t had many public opportunities to vent.

It is the result of a change in the rules for distributing $44 million in grants. The initial rule was part of a program Gov. Nathan Deal launched in 2011 to provide funds to local governments seeking to build reservoirs or dig wells.

At that time, the rules required the state to take possession of the land that would be flooded by the new lake over the life of the bonds sold for financing. At the end of the bonds, the local government would have been required to buy out the state’s ownership.

But few local governments wanted to participate on that basis, according to Shane Hix, spokesman for the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority that operates the program.

In response, the state changed the rules so that it gets access to some of the water. How much water the state takes depends on each individual project.

“That’s going to be handled on a case-by-case basis as each one is negotiated,” Hix said.

That may create a dicey arrangement, warns Tom Gehl, government-relations director for the Georgia Municipal Association, a trade group for city officials.

“If I’m a local government, I’d be very careful about how it might impact our local service agreements to our own customers,” he said.

The state might be the dominate partner in the deal because of its size and that fact it’s supplying the money, leaving local officials to tend to their communities’ needs after state demands are met, Gehl said.

If Gehl is worried the new terms of the program make it too tough on participating local governments.

The Georgia River Network fears they’re too lax and that the environment will suffer.

“We think the rules are being changed for pet projects,” said April Ingle, executive director of the Athens-based organization.

According to Ingle, developers hoping to profit off waterfront property are pushing the state to fund unneeded reservoirs that flood natural springs and lowlands and destroy their ecology. She says the state should spend the money on conservation efforts instead, like paying local governments to plug leaks in aging water lines.

“As a taxpayer, if my tax dollars go to that, I’ll be outraged because it can’t be justified,” she said.

Hix says the projects are justified.

First, the Environmental Protection Agency won’t issue a permit for withdrawing water for unneeded projects, and second, his agency won’t agree to fund any projects that don’t address a statewide need like stream-flow augmentation or drought mitigation.

“These are going to be strategic investments in areas of the state where waters are needed,” he said.

Besides, the state isn’t allowed to spend money raised by the sale of long-term bonds on short-term expenditures like pipe repairs, he said. The funds can only go to an asset that will last as long as the bond debt does, such as water-withdrawal rights.

The first grants under the new rules will be awarded Nov. 6.

Opponents looking for opportunities to complain may speak up during Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Natural Resources, its first meeting since the rules took effect. And they are also likely to raise the matter during the legislative session that begins in January.

• Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com and (404) 589-8424.